After reading the article “Trays’ days numbered in caf” (Chips Vol. 130, No. 16) and Warren Palm’s comment, “We don’t have the final say on this. Ultimately, it’s what the students want,” one question came to mind: Why weren’t the students asked what they want first? It seems to me that it would save a lot of time and hassle on students to first poll them to see if they would be willing to go trayless before just going trayless for a week, taking the data and then asking us students what we would prefer. From the students I have talked to, it appears that while they feel it might be a good idea, the hassle it will cause isn’t worth it. In fact, a Facebook group “Caf Trays will destroy the planet!!!! REALLY???” was already started against this trayless caf idea.

While the name makes the group sound extreme, they do make some very good points. One example is, “There are much better alternatives to help save energy and lower our carbon footprint that wouldn’t [anger] so many students, such as having the SPO cops walk or bike around campus instead of driving in circles all day or having certain groups not print mass flyers all around campus or having a computer running continuously,” (edited so as not to bash specific groups).

The point is, the students should have been asked if we might potentially want this, considering the claim that the decision is really up to us. For some things it is necessary to first experience what it would be like before making a decision, but for a trayless caf, I think most people can envision what it would be like for them personally. This is why the students should have been asked before Student Senate approved a week-long trayless caf trial.

David M. Behm (‘08)